Mika Baur fires Celtic to victory over St Johnstone | OneFootball

Scottish PremiershipWednesday, September 9, 2026McDiarmid Park, Perth

ST JOHNSTONE…0

CELTIC…1(Baur 52)

Celtic extended their winning run to six victories from six league matches with a hard-fought 1-0 win over St Johnstone tonight, as Mika Baur grabbed his first goal for the club.

The Hoops looked to put the home side under pressure early in the match, and in the fifth minute Haissem Hassan went close to opening the scoring with a good shot from inside the box which St Johnstone keeper Toby Steward did well to put wide for a corner. 

The home side, still riding the crest of a wave following their victory over Hibernian at the weekend, had to be patient for their first chance of the match, but on the 20-minute mark Joel Cotterill had a massive chance to put his side ahead with a well struck effort from inside the box.

However, debut Bhoy Sam Johnstone was on hand to make a wonderful save, pushing the ball over the bar to keep the score level. 

With just over half an hour gone, Callum McGregor found himself with a chance to put Celtic ahead when a dangerous cross in to the box from Mika Baur wasn’t cleared by the St Johnstone defence, giving the Celtic skipper a shooting opportunity, but his effort was deflected behind for a corner before it could trouble the goalkeeper. 

Martin O’Neill’s men dominated the ball throughout the first 45 minutes, but the home side looked dangerous on the attack, and as the first half drew to a close, it was St Johnstone who had the momentum, with Simo Valakari’s side capitalising on some slack clearances from the Celtic back-line.

The Hoops, however, were able to deal with the danger and saw it through to the break at 0-0.

Sam Johnstone was called in to action early in the second half, producing another fine save, this time to deny Taylor Steven, who had fired a powerful shot on target from inside the Celtic penalty area. 

With 52 minutes on the clock, and having weathered the home side’s pressure, Mika Baur grabbed his first goal in the Hoops to give Celtic the lead.

The move was started by Sebastian Tounekti, whose cross into the box was brought down by Kasper Høgh and laid off to Haissem Hassan. 

Hassan showed his class to leave Cheick Diabate in his wake as he drove to the by-line before flashing the ball across the six-yard box, giving Baur a brilliant opportunity which he duly took to make it 1-0. 

Shortly after the hour mark, Haissem Hassan looked like he had doubled Celtic’s lead with a finish from midway inside the penalty area, but the linesman’s flag brought a swift end to the celebrations, with the stand-side official judging that the ball had gone out of play before it was headed down to Hassan.

Soon after, Martin O’Neill made his first change of the match, swapping Oliver Soørensen for Benjamin Nygren in the middle of the park. There were then further changes for the Hoops, as Haissem Hassan and Sebastian Tounekti made way for James Forrest and Camilo Durán.

Forrest, in pursuit of a goal which would extend his scoring run to 18 consecutive seasons, almost reached that landmark in spectacular fashion with 13 minutes left to play as he chopped back and forth on the edge of the box before releasing an effort which drew a good diving save from Toby Steward.

Kasper Høgh had a massive opportunity to announce his return with a goal in the 83rd minute after some slack play at the back from St Johnstone and a good lay-off from Benjamin Nygren, but the home side’s keeper was able to save with his legs and deny the Dane. 

With five minutes left, Martin O’Neill made his final two changes of the match, with Keiran Tierney and Shumaira Mheuka replacing Liam Scales and Kasper Høgh.

Shumaira Mheuka went close to making it 2-0 in stoppage time, but once again Toby Steward made the save and Celtic had to settle for a 1-0 win ahead of their trip to Ibrox on Sunday.  

Fixtures

St. Johnstone Vs. Celtic - Wed, Sep 9th 2026, 20:00 Final score: 0 - 1